In an inn not far from the scene of the incident, Liam stumbled forward in a drunken haze as he tried to slot his keys into the lock of his rented room's door. His clothes were crumpled with visible blood handprints streaking across the front. Smaller, muddy prints tore into the back of his shirt in frantic and haphazard formation. The metal of the key collided against its mate's frame, missing its goal repeatedly until its holder finally plunged them together into a perfect union.
Liam opened the door to his room and dragged himself forward, nearly tripping on the heavy rug covering the creaking wooden floorboards, and collapsed onto a chair next to the bed. His blurry eyes looked around the room one last time to confirm that he was in fact in his room at the inn, it wouldn't be his first time accidentally strolling into some random location while under the influence. Though he scoffed and closed his eyes immediately afterwards after his cloudy mind put together the fact that nearly all the rooms in the inn had a similar design. They were all small boxes with a bed, a chair, a table and a chest to store items. Moving from one end of the room to the other could be achieved in four small steps.
"Damn it!" Liam cursed and palmed his face in annoyance. "I need to leave before the Town's Watch finds their bodies. Fuck!"
He didn't expect things to go the way they did. It was... unfortunate. He leaned towards the table and poured a cup of water for himself with the large metal jug at its centre and proceeded to consume the water in large gulps. Right as the last drop rolled down his throat, his ears caught a series of rushed footsteps moving through the halls outside. "Is it them? Already?!"
The door to his room burst open from its frame with a startling crash. The sound echoed through the room and rang in his ears, which were still sensitive in his drunken state.
"It's... you?" That was all Liam could say before the figure standing at the door vanished and materialised in front of his seat. Two hands clasped his neck and tightened like a relentless vice.
"W-Wha-"
"Why'd you do it!" An enraged girl's voice bellowed and interrupted Liam's choked words. "Lea and Yumi... WHY?!!!"
"I do-"
Liam's mind started to gain clarity at a hurried pace as his blood started to pump faster with the fear of imminent death looming over him. He finally recollected his assailant's identity - it was the girl he'd offered a ride to just this morning.
____
Rage. Maddening rage. That was all that whirled inside Marie's head. She had no idea how she found out the man's location, she also had no idea how she reached this place. For a moment, her mind turned blank, overwhelmed with sorrow, fury and self-loathing. When her mind finally cleared up, she found herself standing before him, with his neck firmly within her grasp.
The man begged for air, but Marie was unwilling to relent. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve to live!
However, it didn't make sense. It didn't add up!
Marie's grip loosened, allowing the man to gasp for air with loud, wheezing breaths.
"Why did you do it?" Marie asked with an impassive tone. Her eyes drilled into the man's cowering form.
"W-What are you talking about?" Liam responded shakily.
Marie's hand darted forward and coiled around the man's right thumb. Right as his eyes moved towards the grasped finger, a muffled cacophony of brutal cracking noises resonated outwards. Following a millisecond of delay, the man's nerves finally registered the pain.
"AAAAAA!" Liam screamed while pulling his broken thumb free from the girl's hands. What came out was a formless and bleeding fleshy mass with bone pieces sticking out.
"I won't repeat my question again," Marie droned while sending a punch directed at the man's face. Another gruesome crack echoed in the room as a fountain of fresh blood bloomed from Liam's face through his broken nose.
"Why are you doing this to me?!" Liam pleaded with a nasal voice and tears streaming down his face, mixing in with the blood.
"Why did you do it?" Marie repeated as she once again reached for his right hand.
"It was an accident!" The man screamed, causing Marie's actions to halt.
"An accident?" Marie retorted with a mocking tone. "You just 'accidentally' killed a little girl by caving in her skull? You just 'accidentally' raped a grown woman?"
Marie lowered herself into a squat and brought her face close to the prostrated man, "You were destined to die today, did you know that? You and those two girls you killed were all supposed to die - trampled under a stampede of boars. Hard to believe, isn't it? Well, I saved you from that fate."
She then brought her hand towards Liam's face and grabbed him by his chin. "You will die today. That is inevitable. But before you go, I wish to know the truth. I want to know why you did that. I can still see the unwillingness to speak truthfully in your eyes. No matter, I've learned from my Little Sister that the human body has around 206 bones. We will work our way methodically through each and every one until you are convinced to speak the truth."
With that said, Marie did not falter in breaking off the man's right index finger. While the man screamed in pain, she moved on to his middle, and then his ring. Right as her hand grasped his little finger, the man screamed at the top of his voice, "WAIT! WAIT! I'LL TALK!"
The man released shaky, tired breaths before revealing a spiteful smile. Coming to terms with his death, the man realised that he had nothing to lose and his tongue loosened automatically, "Do you know how much support I've given that whore?"
"Whore?"
"That's right! A fatherless, motherless cur, what else could she do but sell her body?" The man justified. "How else does she have a daughter but no man?"
The man sought some understanding on Marie's part, hoping that his accusation would at least offer him some. Alas, he saw nothing of that sort from her face.
"I-I helped her every day. Drove her to and from the village, helped her set up stalls once in a while, even helped attract customers to her stall!"
"She asked you for this assistance?"
"Well no... I did it out of the goodness of my heart!" The man defended.
"What does this have to do with your crime?" Marie drew the conversation back irritatedly.
"Even after all the help I offered, she never showed her gratitude!" The man shrieked. "I've supported her for almost five years now! Still, nothing!"
"Gratitude..." Marie murmured. "Did she thank you for your help?"
"Y-Yes-"
"Did she offer payment or compensation for your help?"
"Yeah, but I never accepted-"
"Did she assist you in return in any way she could?"
"She did. But-"
"So the truth here is that she DID express her gratitude, however, it wasn't in the way you wanted," Marie summarised. To which the man nodded with a loud gulp. "If this is the case then you didn't, in fact, help her out of the 'goodness' of your heart."
"I'm a man! Is it so hard to understand?" Liam declared righteously.
"Hmm, I see," Marie muttered. "You're right. Because you are a man, you deserve specific forms of compensation over others. Of course!"
Liam's eyes gained a faint spark of hope, seeing how Marie finally agreed with him on a point.
"This can be fixed," Marie said immediately after grabbing Liam by his legs, spreading them apart and, before Liam had the opportunity to register what was happening, her foot descended upon his nether region with unflinching resolve. The sound of flesh grinding and tearing was overshadowed by an ear-piercing screen from the flailing man. Liam could do nothing to quench the pain radiating from his crotch - it got so bad that he nearly lost consciousness. Blood and urine escaped from what remained, dousing his trousers with an unpleasant smell.
"You forced yourself on a woman because you thought your act of kindness for her obligated her to satisfy your needs. You claim that it is your right as a man. Now, you are a man no more," Marie sneered. She approached the immobile man and clasped his skull between her hands.
"Yumi died after you threw her against the wall, while she tried to stop you from defiling her mother. The girl died a slow and painful death," Marie said through gritted teeth. Incrementally, Marie started to increase the pressure by squeezing her hands together, with Liam's skull in between. The man's screams grew in a crescendo until eventually his voice cracked and no sound escaped his gaping mouth.
At that moment, Marie's ears caught the sound of wood clacking against wood, approaching the room. When she saw her Master's form, Marie's grip loosened allowing the man to collapse once again onto the floor. His consciousness was teetering, he was clearly in shock.
"Hmm. You're hesitating," Krish commented, staring emotionlessly at the figure sprawled on the floor. "I figured you might have ended him already."
"Must he die?" Marie asked exasperatedly.
"That is his fate," Krish affirmed. "Why? Do you want him to live?"
Marie nodded with a morbid frown and said, "I want him to suffer the consequences of his actions. Death is too quick an end for him. I shouldn't have saved scum like him."
Krish hummed noncommittally and retrained his focus on his Disciple, who was cradling her head in dismay. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed the man's legs twitching and his pupils running around furiously beneath his closed lids. Krish moved sideways, clearing up a path towards the exit.
On queue, the collapsed man leapt into motion. He worked through his disorientation and rushed towards the exit. However, two steps in, his leg got caught in the heavy rug at the centre of the room. He tripped while conserving his momentum and hurtled uncontrollably towards the frame of the door.
A loud crash echoed within the room, and two heads simultaneously turned towards the source of the sound. Liam had unwittingly turned sideways in his trajectory and had hit his head at an odd angle against the door frame. The force yanked his neck at an egregious angle, snapping the connection between his spinal cord and brain.
